an ongoing search for dorner. a former l.a. police officer. wanted for shooting thee people, including the death of a police officer. dorner is accused of targeting police officers and their families after he was fired. he wrote that online manifesto saying there were as many as 50 police officer families that he was targeting. this has been a very tough terrain as we watch these live pictures from big bear in southern california. moments ago, knbc, sister station, shared this and their live coverage of the developing story. let's listen in. >> breaking news now. christopher dorner possibly involved in a shoot-out with various law enforcement officers until big bear area. this may have the gun on thursday when that burned-out pickup truck was found in the big bear area. it is quite possible that christopher dorner may have taken two people hostage in a cabin right there in the big bear area you were at and those authorities were going through

400 cab tins first night, 200 cab tins next day, going door to door. >> if these reports are true, how frightening could that have been? police right outside your door potentially looking for a situation like this and to still be held hostage in that situation, they are saying that potentially two women, anna garcia reporting, from one source that one of them, at one point may have broken free. >> today. >> today. gone, able to call 911 and report the vehicle stolen which initiated this chase, the crash, and then we are looking from our news chopper report picture, we see some sort of tracks in the snow. >> again, that was our sister station knbc in los angeles. this search is going on now in big bear. shots of exchange with the suspected former lapd cop that's a fugitive. and we are staying on top of this. this is very fluid. more information as soon as it comes in. you will hear it here first. >> back close to home we want to shift gears and talk about this weather. not so much today where we

climbed up to 60 degrees but by this time tomorrow, some of us could be dealing with some snow. doug, what's the latest you are hearing? >> that's the interesting part of this. when you look at what we have seen this winter, sheer lack of snow, warmer temperatures, you have to look at the storm and think we are not going see a lot with this one. 53 degrees now. winds out of the south 9 miles an hour. plenty of shine. it is a beautiful, beautiful afternoon. it is going to continue to be right on through the evening hours. 61 in culpeper. 57 in fredericksburg. 54 in gaithersburg. annapolis coming in at 52 degrees. looking at the radar, not seeing anything now on the radar picture. as we widen out to the south, a ton of moisture down here. our storm system is this one right here in through central portions of oklahoma. that will ride our way and bring moisture into our viewing area during the day tomorrow. i think for the most part this will start off as rain but some of you do have a chance of accumulating snowfall. we will talk about who has the best chance of snow and what is coming next, winter, not quite

over yet. >> thank you. kay cottic moments as shots rang out early this morning at a house near the university of maryland. police tell us a student lured his room mates outside by setting fires. then began shooting. we have team coverage now of this bizarre case that left would people dead including the gunman. chris gordon mass reaction from fellow students. we begin with pat collins live on the scene. >> jim, they say to lure his room mates out of this house, he started a fire inside. and then a fire here in the yard. and yet, another fire over there by the fence. and when the roommates came out, they say he opened fire. we begin our story now with jim, he lives next door. >> for me, i'm -- grateful that i'm alive and that my friends are alive. >> reporter: suspicious fires.

gunshots. bizarre murder-suicide involving three maryland students. close by the college park campus. chip lives next door. >> bang, bang, bang, bang. >> reporter: how many? >> i can't tell you. basically just -- hit the lights and ducked into a corner of my room. >> reporter: police identified the shooter as 23-year-old dayvon maurice green. engineering grad student and former member of the nasa student ambassador program. his family says green had a mental illness. >> family let our detectives know that this suspect had this condition for at least a year. and that in the past, he had been prescribed medication for this mental illness. >> reporter: it happened around 1:00 this morning at a rental house close by the college park campus. police say that green set fires in and around the house and in

an apparent effort to draw his room mates outside. when the two room mates came out, they say green opened fire. he killed one, wounded another, then turned the gun on himself. >> around 1:00 a.m. we heard about ten shots fired. and we couldn't figure out if it was gunshots or firecrackers. >> reporter: the police say the gun green used, he purchased legally. apparently after he was diagnosed with mental illness. in addition to the murder weapon, police say, green also had a bag containing a baseball bat. a machete. a loaded semiautomatic weapon and some extra ammunition. there's no evidence that green's mental problems ever came to the attention of university officials. david mitchell is the chief of the university of maryland police department.

>> god-awful tragedy. all the way around. >> reporter: now the wounded student was treated and released. he is expected to be okay. so sad to see the university president came to the neighborhood to console students. we will hear from him coming up at 6:00. live in college park, pat collins, news4. >> as you can image tin mood on the maryland campus is uneasy tonight after the violence that played out at this home. condolences and prayers were offered by the university's president. number of students are now taking a closer look at the person they may be sharing space with. news4's chris gordon joins us now live from the university of maryland campus with more on that part of the story now. chris? >> reporter: good evening. as you look at the college park campus it appears that nothing unusual has happened here. but when you speak with the students, as we have throughout the day, you get a sense of how upset they are. some university of maryland

stints that live off campus board this shuttle bus, a short distance away from the house where the shootings took place. >> i didn't hear any gunshots myself but my neighbors heard gunshots and are like -- text alert. text alert is so big that i had no idea if it was what -- what kind of shooting it was. we panicked and locked the doors. tried to hide. >> heard the gunshots. i heard -- thought it was fireworks at first. after all the cop cars came, then weren't leaving. pretty bad. >> reporter: thomas just graduated. he lives on 37th. one block from the shooting scene. what is your reaction? >> no words really. mine, it has been a string of violent crimes happening in college park recently. and -- it hits a lot closer to home right now. >> reporter: there is an increased police presence. cruisers from the county and university of maryland police

departments patrolling college park streets. students who live on or near campus say today's shootings have shaken their sense of security. >> i think it is absolutely horrible. i-can't believe anything like that would happen. really. >> it is really scary. that this would happen. the students, just like us, hear at our school. not too far away from where we live. >> reporter: late this afternoon we went to the silver spring home of the family of the student that was shot to death, stephen rane. they told us they didn't want to speak publicly. we left and returned here to college park where we are reporting to you live tonight. that's the latest. chris gordon, news4. >> four hours from now president obama unveils his vision for his second term. he will be putting finishing touch owes his state of the union address now. early today he appeared at the white house with his chief of staff, dennis mcdonough. he did not reveal what he would be talking about tonight. the list of issues is expected to cover include guns, national

security, immigration reform, and the sequester we have been hearing about all last week. analysts say his tone will set the stage for his relationship with congressional republicans over the next two years and you can watch the president's state of the union tonight right here on news4. it starts at 9:00. live streaming coverage of the address on nbcwashington.com. word tonight it will be until tomorrow before crews in fairfax county can remove a crane that collapsed on a church in mt. vernon. officials tell us two people were hurt but as northern virginia bureau chief julie carey reports rs, fast action by the crane operator kept bad situation from getting worse. >> reporter: this was not what was supposed to happen this morning when jim perkins sat out with his two employees to check a cell phone tower inside this church steep. >> i felt the crane shake. looked down and saw the rear hydraulic was compressing which it didn't do.

i tried to get the guys to as close to the roof as i could before i bailed. >> reporter: the two men in the basket suspended from the crane could have gone flying towards the roof. this teacher was watch 2 and 3-year-olds on play jound when she saw the crane begin to fall. >> i happened to be watching when all of a sudden the bucket of the crane just slam flood the side of the steeple. steeple started shaking. at that point we said we need to get them inside. so we ran in. yeah. it was scary. >> reporter: fairfax county fire official space the crane operat operator's quick reaction prevented what could have been disastrous. >> we are fortunate the operator realized there was anna malfunction in one of the outriggers. during the crane descent, he was able to get the basket down a little bit. >> jim perkins a says once he jumped from the cab he brent the

roof to check on his workers. both suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital to be checked out. as for the pre-school, 69d kids and 16 staff were evacuated and headed home early for the day. it is hard to believe that by looking, it is just cosmetic damage. there is no serious structural damage. that leaves one more question. your heart rated is back to normal? >> not yet. it is getting there. slowing down. their websites use to find trusted contractors. but what role does money play in the listings you find on those customer review sites? the news4 i am team with an investigation you will want to see. plus new defails emerging today about how long agree the pope decided he was going to step down. and a revelation tonight from the vatican about his health. so far, we have avoided a major snowstorm this year. but you probably still have plenty of salt on your car. transportation reporter adam tuss finds out how the smaller storms are impacting budgets for

snow removal. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

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♪ the one and only, cheerios right now we continue to poll the breaking news with a very active scene on big bear in southern california. christopher dorner, former l.a. police officer, who was on a killing rampage and is on the run. there are reports he held two

women hostage macabre inin big bear. one of those women apparently was able to escape and call police. dorner apparently took off in the woman's pickup. a short time later there was a car chase with police and that may have turned into a foot chase. we are hearing reports from the associated press right now that two officers have been injured and that dorner is barricaded in a cabin. those police officers have been airlifted out. these are live pictures from our sister station knbc in southern california. dorner is wanted for three shooting deaths, including the death of a police officer. he is accused of targeting cops and their families after he was fired. the search at big bear here began last thursday when officers found his burned-out vehicle there, he posted a manifesto online stating he was armed and dangerous. and he did not expect to make it out live. these are live pictures and we will bring you the latest as it comes in to news4. we also have breaking news

on capitol hill right now. a sharply divided senate armed services committee has just approved the nomination of former nebraska senator chuck hagel as defense secretary. this matter now moves on to the full senate where the republicans have already threatened to delay confirmation or scuttle this nomination entirely. today retiring secretary leon panetta said good-bye to his defense department colleagues in a ceremony this morning but his last day on the job hasn't been announced yet because he's waiting for his successor to be confirmed. there you have -- moved out of the senate committee and on to the full senate. >> busy day in the news. this time tomorrow we could be talking about some big changes in our weather, doug. >> yes. tomorrow afternoon is not going to be a very nice afternoon. but for most of us that means rain. if you are a snow lover, winter has not been our friend. this storm will disappoint in n that fashion. we are looking at a beautiful evening.

it was spectacular today. one of the best days we have seen in quite some time. sunshine, temperatures that made their way close to 60 degrees. right now we are sitting at 54 3 degrees. clear skies once again. we will start to see the clouds increase i ahead of the storm system temperatures 54 in martinsburg. manassas, 61. culpeper, 57 and fredericksburg, coolest number is 50. down towards pax river. temperatures well above average by close to ten degrees today. started off quite mild. radar, nothing to show you now. storm team 4 radar dry for the moment. as we widen out you see where this rain is. and the snow is back towards the west. picked up good snow back towards the panhandle of texas. also panhandle of oklahoma. they are seeing snow there. down to the south, just more and more rain. they have been devastating -- seen those devastating tornadoes two days ago. yesterday amazing rainfall totals. today more severe weather. few severe thunderstorms and lot of rain. this area of the country needs

the rain. all of that moisture is try to move our way. however, most of it will scoop just to the south of us. breezy conditions. that's what we saw today. with those warm conditions, not bad at all when you mention how much sun yi shine we saw. this will be the scenario that plays out tomorrow. low pressure. where is that area of low pressure going to be? too far to the north? all rain for most of us. too far to the south, we don't get into the moisture. it will have a fine line here. that line around the i-95 corridor. good amount of snow for the mountains. ski resorts looking very good there. but for us, mostly rain to snow event and then it is out of here by thursday. we are back into the sunshine. very quick hitter and this is what you can expect from this tomorrow. still a news an storm around the area. mostly rain for most of us. light snowfall, little to no accumulation. slow pm rush. it is going to make the rush on the slow side. martinsburg, charlestown, frederick, author monl,

hagerstown, winchester, maybe one to two here. little bit on the high side in this area. down to the south, less than an inch. i would be very surprised if the d.c. metro area saw a half an inch. less than an inch towards herndon, laurel, bowie, down towards burk and down to the south of woodbridge, quantico, i don't think you will see anything alt from this. a rain event. colder air moves in and then we may have something to talk about. mostly cloudy early tomorrow morning. cool and dry. temperatures 30 to 36 degrees. over the next couple of days we are going to see that rain changing to snow tomorrow afternoon. north and west of i-95. and we are going to see temperatures rebound, 49 on your thursday. 53 on friday. then winter is not quite done yet. we are going to see another chance for light snow on saturday. not a big storm there. a chance for flurries. look at the highs. only in the mid to upper on saturday and sunday. temperatures sunday morning could be in the teens in most locations. we have some colder air coming in. cold air coming void of snow.

>> spring fever out there today. >> when we come back, we are looking again at hovering over big bear. where we are looking for the -- hot on the trail of the christopher dorner, former lapd cop. alleged killer. they exchanged gunfire with him. looks like this could be coming to a dramatic end at some point soon. they made contact with him. they are getting close. we are on top of thi

don't ever say washington isn't perfect till ground because two of the best players on two of the best teams are home grown. >> it has been fun to watch these kids develop. they have developed quickly. four years ago we told you the story of quinn cook. friends and teammates, would of the best basketball players in the area high school level. now they are two of the best college basketball players in the entire nation. their bond as strong as ever. this was quinn and victor in 2009. quinn, sophomore point guard, would throw it up. vick, high ever high-flying junior would throw it down. this is the duo today. not much has changed for these

two. except the stage. quinn is starring at duke where he led them to number one ranking in the country this year and developed into one of the four premiere generals in the nation. vick continued his one-man dunk show at indiana. a team that's held to number one ranking, junior swing man, projected first round draft pick by the website nba draft experience. things are going very well for these two. but it hasn't always been that way. when vick was a freshman at indiana, hoosiers won three big ten games. losing the games and going through hardship and i don't think any program in college basketball was at the lowest like we were. i always communicated with these guys. told them, you know, how tough it was and all that kind of stuff. they just gave me their word of encouragement. they were always watching, even if we were down 40, they were

still up. >> that experience allowed the older to counsel cook which he did most of the high school after cook's father died during his freshman year. for cook losing his dad the man who introduced him the to the game, was devastating but made him mentally stronger. something that helped quinn through what what felt like a tortureous year at duke. >> i know what the bottom feels like. i don't know want to go back. that's my motivation. this whole summer. this fall, getting ready for the season. just -- knowing where you came from. you know. me not being in big games last year. watching from the sideline now. me being on the floor is just -- a good feeling. you know, i'm not satisfied. i wanted to play him so bad. i knew he contributes. he has been playing all his life. playing all his life since he was young. you know, he just has to go through the learning process,

you know. then that happens in college. i thought he handled it very well. now he's -- he's -- did -- a leader. he is doing a phenomenal job. >> his goal now, perhaps one day to take the quinn and vick show to the nba. i would say the story we did happened at a good time. duke ranked number one in the coach's poll. indiana ranked number one in the ap top 25. victor has been playing as well as anybody in the country right now coming off of a career 26 points. considered by many to be an nba lottery pick if he decides to leave indiana early. he is guys making it happen. fun to watch them run through the ncaa tournament. who knows. maybe they can be there as well. >> thanks, dan. when we come right back, we are going to have the latest on the developing story. these are pictures on the ground in los angeles. we have been showing you big bear outside of los angeles. that snowyer terrain where there has been increased activity.

reports of two officers wounded. gunfi gunfire, two women tied up this afternoon. we are hearing reports they were able to break free. the latest this story as police called for a news conference at 6:00 tonight.

breaking news back to california. would officers have been shot in a gunfight with the former lapd

officer who is on the run and is accused of killing two officers and shooting one police officer's daughter and her fiance. killing them. it has been unfolding in the past 90 minutes. police say just after noon local time in los angeles, the suspect, christopher dorner, was spotted in a stolen vehicle. he got out that car, barricaded himself in a cab here in this wooded area. and -- ongoing fire fight has been occurring with officers there. would officers have been shot and had to be flown out to a hospital. dorner, again, wanted for lee shooting deaths including the death of a police officer. i said would police officers. one police officer. he is accused of targeting cops and their families after he was fired from the lapd and declared war against that police department on an online manifesto. again, this is an ongoing situation there. ed clark is the former commander for the montgomery county county s.w.a.t. team. thanks for joining us. because of you have had experience with a similar

situations, not like this, because this is extremely unique, talk about what police are thinking now. safety has to be paramount in their minds. he has wounded two officers this afternoon. and this is a man who has been targeting police, their families, knows how do it and knows how to survive. >> you are absolutely right. at this point it is the well-being and safety of those officers on the scene and additional officers that will be responding as well. >> he said -- i understand that dorner in his manifesto said he does not expect to come out of this live. what does this tell you how this could unfold in the next hour or hours or into the night? >> well, they will certainly try to establish communication opportunities with this individual to see if he will be willing to engage in a dialogue. they will be working on other tactical options to deploy if

and when they immediate to exercise size those options. a lot going on behind the scenes now. i would imagine they are trying to get other police resources in that area to make sure that area is secure and if there are other individuals in that area they may be evacuating them or having them stay in place until it can be safe for them to be removed by law enforcement. >> ed clark, former commander of the montgomery county s.w.a.t. team. thanks so much for taking time with us. we want to remind you that police in los angeles called for a 6:00 news conference. we don't know what they are going to share. if they are going to just bring us up to date on what's happening, if they need help, these are pictures coming from closer on the ground to los angeles. but most of the searching we have been showing you airials throughout the afternoon above big bear. >> the snowy area there. this is going to be interesting. please stay with us because we are staying with this and watching it and bringing you new information as we get it. back close to home. we are more than halfway through winter and sometime haven't had

major snowstorm. that doesn't mean local jurisdictions haven't been taking a big bite out of their snow removal budgets. >> transportation reporter adam tuss explains the why, even the threat of snow, is costly. adam? >> reporter: small storm after small storm, nothing big yet this winter. the weather mitt pretty nice. you may be surprised to find the mild winter is costing the road crews millions of dollars. snow, what snow? while this winter isn't over yet, days like today make it hard to imagine the thought of even three, four, or five inches of snow on the ground. lots of drivers we talked on said they would love a blast of snow. >> a big storm. >> i love to drive in the snow. >> reporter: even though there hasn't bench to measure on the ground local road crews have been busy with just the threat of something serious.

in virginia, v-dot's crews deployed crews a dozen times and spent $19 million of their budge set will is a big effort to stank crew news, to stage everywhere on the interstates and neighborhoods, secondary roads. so we are more prepared during rush hours. >> reporter: in the district the city budgeted $6 million for winter weather and spent about $2 million of that. the area that's been hardest hit, maryland. state highway administration budgeted $41 million statewide to battle snow and already spent about $35 million of that. highway administration says a combination of weather and the western part of the state and repeated deployments here at home have gobbled up the budget. but sha maintains it has muff resources to get lou the rest of the winter. drivers looking at the blue sky today wonder if anything substantial will come this year. >> i like one sngood snow a yea. >> reporter: we haven't got it yet. >> no, not yet. >> reporter: back here live in merrifield. weather for the ride home mitt

is pretty much perfect. coming up at 6:00, if local road crews have money leftover from the snow budgets, what they will do with it. adam tuss, news4. >> you need a plumber? maybe a mechanic? you don't know who to trust. so you go to angie's list. yelp or another customer review site. >> can you trust the first thing that pops up on your screen as being the best? tonight's news4 i-team trisha thompson shows why you some businesses say it is all about the money. >> reporter: customer review sites offering honest to goodness opinions written by real customers. including the good, the bad, and the ugly. but how big a part does money play? >> i'm a firm believer that, you know, you have to earn where you are. >> reporter: ram si the manager of a plumbing company in sterling, virginia. >> everything i have checked is positive reviews. >> reporter: he didn't understand whether angie's list places his company 158th on the site. a eight pages in below companies with lower grades.

in he got a call from angie's list. asking him to advertise on its site. >> it was in excess of $50,000 to be ranked above -- companies that have lower rankings than we did. >> no company can pay to be on angie's list. >> reporter: the company's founder says it is true. advertisers get better placement on the website. but she says that they have to make the grade. >> only a or b rated companies are eligible to advertise. and they have to offer a discount to our members. >> reporter: that discount is the key. it is the only hit you get on the search results page that the company is a paid advertiser. the company does explain its policy in its pact section but is not necessarily easily on to find. >> we have a positive review. we work hard every day do that. technicians work hard to maintain the reputation so why is it that i should have to pay you to be ranked higher than someone that doesn't do quite as good of a job. >> he is having a similar experience with a different

site. >> i lost 30% to 40% of my receive knew and it is really damaging my business tremendously. >> reporter: he join ad class action lawsuit against yelp claiming that the internet company removes four and five star ratings after companies refuse to advertise on the website. >> i denied advertising. i had yelp up on my computer. immediately within ten minutes a five-star disappeared and dropped down and one star went to the top. >> absolutely not. absolutely not. the whole point of an online consumer review service is that consume verse to trust the content. >> reporter: advertisers only get a banner ad at the top of each page. money, he says, never influences ratings or their placement. >> advertisers don't get to control their reviews. then don't get to reorder the reviews and don't get to do anything but get an ad on top. >> reporter: yelp does filter what it considers fake or unreliable ratings. in court documents yelp says it removed six five-star ratings from the website because it

believes they were written by his wife. less clear why yelp filtered out at least 56 high-star reviews. something you can only see if you click on this link at the bottom of the review page. >> when you look up real techniques it immediately showed bad reviews on me. i lost revenue. >> reporter: the class action lawsuit against yelp was initially dismissed but is being appealed with an expected ruling coming in may. both sites say you can always change the way you see the results by choosing different ways to sort. picking the most reviewed oral if a bet cal order. >> thank you. we are keeping tabs on big bear in california. just outside of l.a. where a possible shoot-out between wanted former lapd cop christopher dorner and authorities out there may be going on right now. they have gotten lows to someone they belief is him and could be

barricaded in a cabin there. we are keeping close tabs on this. news conference from out there

here at news4, we have a long standing tradition of celebrating the rich and diverse history of our washington community. >> barbara harrison joins us now. she is at a special ceremony

across the hall celebrating black history month in studio a. hey, bash. >> hi, barb. >> we just heard from mayor write who is a mcdonald's chant choicee. she made a wonderful contribution to the washington area urban league. tell us about that. >> thank you, barbara. i am here today to present a check to the national urban league. mcdonald's has had a long standing relationship with the national urban league here in washington. i'm here representing the baltimore-washington black mcdonald operators. here in the greater washington, d.c., area. indeed our pleasure. we celebrate this black history 365 days out of the year. it is indeed our pleasure to be here to make the donation. >> i understand you were a little girl growing up and loved mcdonald's and then became an owner. >> that's absolutely right. i own and operate eight franchises in prince george's

county. one of those restaurants is actually the restaurant i raised my family in. >> it is so great to meet you. thank you for the contribution that you made and -- let the celebration continue here at pat lawson muse. back to you, wendy and jim. >> barbara, thanks so much. between want to remind you of the developments on big bear in california at this hour. the former los angeles police officer who is on a killing rampage targeting cops is involved in a gun battle at this hour that's been going on for at least about a half an hour, 45 minutes. this all began today when two women were taken hostage in their cabin. one was able to escape and call police. a man matching christopher dorner's description stole the women's pickup truck and police caught up with him. that's when dorner got out, barricaded himself inside after cabin, during the gun battle, two officers were shot and injured. they have been flown to the hospital. we will bring you much more as it comes into news4. stay with us. let's get a check on our forecast from doug. we have snow in some parts

moving in tomorrow night. >> take a look at all the moisture. ton of it down to the south. all trying move our way. i will let you know who is going to get what and when.

9:00 tonight, president obama lays out his second-term plan in his state of the union. >> gun control expected to be at the top of his agenda with victims of gun violence and

adding voices to the issue. tom brokaw joins us now with more on that. any sense of what the president may say or push for as he talks about gun control tonight? >> he will be talking about the specifics of the joe biden recommendation. he has been campaigning for those around the country. it takes it all way out to the ban on the assault weapons. but the he will try to engage the country beyond the various parts of the mass shootings that we have been such tragic witnesses to. for example, it is not just about guns although they are the lethal, final piece of it. also about the culture of violence and it is about -- background checks when you buy a gun. it is about magazines and -- it is also about mental health about people who have mental health or difficulties of one kind or another with their behavior, getting access to guns. i think they will try to engage the country in a dialogue. ironically all of this is going on tonight in washington with here in southern california,

there is that shoot-out going on in the big bear area between what appears object now christopher dorner and the man who has been on the run since he declared revenge on cops and began shooting and killing people here just this past week. so -- all of us will have additional tonight. >> talk about the democrats who represent the western states. which have a -- a -- healthy gun culture out there. are they in a unique position or are they under any kind of pressure from the white house and then from their own constituents? >> it is a mixed case. in my state a gun is a tool. it is like a pickup or like a shovel. we use guns who -- hunt big game and that puts meat on the table. most of the people i'm talking to, rocky mountain states and great plains, say that -- they believe that -- as gun owners, that this is just the first step

to take away all of their guns and not a contrary voice in many of those states. hunter was given the assignment by nancy pelosi coming up with a plan the democrats could come forward in the house of representatives. the gun owners who believe the guns will be taken away from him, they were the most vocal when he went to san francisco, he heard another point of view. so -- it is very complex. i don't think anyone believes that the assault weapon ban will pass during this session of congress. but if the beginning really of a dial doing you are -- getting our arms in all of this in the american series. >> we are. it is not just this week. in fact, mike thompson piece was scheduled tonight for "nightly news," but because after shoot-out and -- in southern california. probably won't make it. we hope to get it tomorrow night. this is an issue that's not going away for america. i need not remind people in

washington, d.c., that -- about -- the lethal and tragic impact of guns in the inner city. it goes beyond the inner city as well. and the president and others hope we can come to grips on this issue and see if we can reduce the amount of gun violence on this issue. >> thanks so much for taking time out with this. we appreciate it. be sure to watch president obama's state of the union address. it begins right here on news4 tonight at 9:00. we will also stream the address on nbcwashington.com. let's go to the weather center and doug, what do you have? >> a very nice evening. as a matter of fact, we are looking at some fantastic weather. 53 degrees right now with clouds beginning to make their way in. winds out of the south at 9 miles per hour. high temperatures today close to 60 with plenty of sunshine today was quite beautiful. 54 right now in rockville. 53 in reston. huntingtown coming in at 52 degrees. still on the mild side.

with mild temperatures like this, it is going to be so hard for any part of the area to get accumulating snow. even with this storm moving in. radar showing nothing. take a look at our future weather and we will take you through the next couple of hours. first off, this is tonight at 11:00. you see the clouds starting to move in. by tomorrow morning, 7:15, clouds are here. we have the cloud cover but still dry for your a.m. rush. no rain tomorrow. you bhant to take the umbrella with you because by around noon we will see it making its way around south, lexington park, culpeper. then everybody seeing the rain around 6:00 and notice it is just about all rain with the exception of the mountains background in lieu ray, front royal, blue ridge. especially back towards the west. by around 9:00, colder -- cold air moves in. it will be cold enough for some snow from i-95 to the west. including gaithersburg, leesburg, frederick, winchester. but not expecting much in south and east. this will be all rain. you can see all rain to the

south and east where there could be some light accumulation. this may be on the high side. one to two inches, martinsburg, frederick, damascus. down to the south, leesburg, herndon, gaithersburg, laurel, maybe an inch but that's really going to be on the high side, too. less than an inch for the most part. d.c., maybe a pew flakes. mt. vernon, woodbridge, really cold air starts to move in. that's it, guys. we are not expecting much at all from this storm system. what we are going to see, though, warmer temperatures. thursday and into friday. high temperature on friday. 53. look at the weekend. saturday and sunday. cold. mother nature not quite done with winter yet. 30% chance of flurries on saturday. but no big storms. once again, looks like the snow missing us altogether once again. >> doug, thank you. we are learning more about the pope's surprising decision to step down yesterday. he blamed appraisal health and vatican officials disclosed for first time today he was fitteded with a pacemaker ten years ago when he was still a cardinal.

but they say his heart condition is not forcing him to retire. they also say he will play no role on the election of his successor. vatican staffer says the pope made the decision 11 months ago. >> apparently it came after his trip to cuba in which was -- in march of last year, if i'm not mistaken. sometime around april, this has been months and months. not quite a year apparently. but almost. >> the pope traveled to cuba in march. it is not clear whether anything happened during the trip to convince him the catholic church needed a younger, stronger pope. and we are waiting at 6:00. we are expecting a news conference from out in los angeles in big bear. the ski resort just outside of l.a. where christopher dorner, the man, former lapd officer, there has been a manhunt for him. he apparently is holed up in a cabin there and has been in a shoot-out with police. as this dramatic manhunt might be coming to a close.

news conference from out west from california coming up in just a few minutes. we are

the latest from big bear, a gun battle between christopher dorner and police officers. two officers have been wounded and airlifted out. two women earlier were tied newspaper a cabin. their truck was stolen. that's when police began their

pursuit this afternoon. as you know, police have called for a news conference at 6:00. just a few minutes from now and we will bring that to you live when it happens with the latest. >> absolutely. there was a terrifying wakeup for a prince william county man. a truck crashed into his house, landed on top of him while he was in bed asleep. the man wasn't hurt. there is a lot of damage to his home. >> news4's jackie bensen has more now on the serious legal problems that driver is now facing. >> yes, that is the door of a truck. truck that was seen moving fast down the 1900 block of willow lane in woodbridge just after midnight. a truck that ended up in the room where the homeowner was taking a nap. he told investigators that he actually felt the heat of the vehicle on top of him. >> it was a loud bang. it woke me up. you know. we came outside and everything. >> reporter: this picture was taken while the truck was still in the house. it was eventually towed away. muddy tracks on the lawn show the path of the vehicle which

narrowly missed a tree before it plowed into the wood-framed home. >> it was terrible. you know, ladders hit the upstairs. the whole truck went downstairs, half of the truck was in the house. >> reporter: amazingly the driver of the truck and the homeowner escaped serious injury. but the driver is in big trouble. >> we determined that the driver was under the influence of alcohol p and was driving without a lines at the time. accident. he was driving at a high rate of speed. lost control of the vehicle. >> reporter: accident investigators returned to the scene later in the day taking measurements that documented the wild path of the truck from the street into the house. the homeowner has quite a job ahead of him, repairing all of this damage. some of the materials have been piled up over here. take a look at this. this is the door to the back of the truck. reporting from woodbridge, jackie bensen, news4. president obama getting ready for his prime time state of the union address.

he will deliver that a pew hour from now and will report on what the president plans to say. >> learning new details about the high-powered gun at university of medical student purchased before he killed his roommate. then himself. also, crews cut down a massive tree in the district today. but it was the wrong one. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. big news out of big bear, california. a former l.a. police officer wanted for several murders is holed up inside of a cabin around 3:30 this afternoon a woman called police and said a man matching christopher dorner's description stole her vehicle. officers have -- detectives found the stolen vehicle and dorner ran into a cabin. officers have confirmed a couple was tied up in the cabin before the woman escaped a short time later there was a gunfire exchange between dorner and detectives. we are told two officers were injured and taken to the hospital. the los angeles police department is planning a news conference any moment now. we will monitor the situation.